Chiropractic Is Quackery
While spinal manipulation MAY help SOME low back pain, manipulation can easily be done by other health professionals that are MUCH safer for patients, such as physical therapists.
The main danger of chiropractic is that most chiropractors are not trained in proper diagnosis and may delay referring you to a real doctor, even for life-threatening conditions.
Another danger is that chiropractors have a pseudoscientific belief system and often recommend dangerous, expensive, or bizarre treatments that are completely worthless.
Chiropractic is also dangerous for potential students. Chiropractors have the highest student loan default rates of any health profession. Many private insurers will not pay for chiropractic, so new graduates increasingly must try to sell patients expensive and unnecessary "pre-paid care plans" or risk defaulting on their student loans.
The purpose of this lens is to promote skeptical thinking about chiropractic, and to dissuade students from taking out chiropractic college loans.
Please forward this lens to any friends or family members who are considering visiting a chiropractor (or becoming one) so they can get the facts and make an informed choice.
Don't become a chiropractor
Here's why to avoid this career
Chiropractors have the highest student loan default rates of any healthcare profession.(If you don't believe me, just follow the links on this page.)
The average chiropractor (DC) graduates with over $100,000 in student loan debt, yet can usually make only around $30,000 as an associate doctor. This figure often includes no health insurance, retirement, vacation, or other benefits.
As an associate doctor, your main job will be to RECRUIT PATIENTS, which basically means to indoctrinate them into the idea that they need to come to your office three times a week for the rest of their lives.
This is accomplished by scaring patients and telling them they have a fake lesion called a subluxation. This is, of course, pure quackery. Only chiropractors believe that subluxations exist. No other doctor or scientist has ever found one.
In reality, you are just cracking the joints of a patient's back and your treatment can have no effect on health (other than maybe easing some minor back pain). There is no evidence that getting joints cracked regularly is good -- it just costs the patient extra money and may even cause ligament laxity.
Many modern chiros will tell you that they don't treat subluxations and that they are evidence based. Don't fall for this one. If chiropractic was truly "evidence based", it wouldn't even need to exist as a profession since physical therapists and physicians can crack joints for back pain.
Some chiropractors claim they can help all kinds of things which they have no business treating. Some claim they can treat diabetes, ADD, hormone problems, depression, even cancer... just by cracking someone's joints.
The cost of chiropractic college is high. Over $80,000 for just tuition. This does not include books, equipment, very expensive licensing exams, etc., -- not to mention the years of lost wages while you are a full time student.
Students will often hear reports of chiropractors making big bucks. This is usually false data that is coming from chiropractic sources. The reality for new grads is that it is almost impossible to open up your own clinic, and the student loan default rate for chiropractors is extremely high.
Before you go into serious debt to become a chiropractor, please research the links provided on the page and seriously consider the information presented. You may avoid a poor choice that will hurt you for years to come in the form of lost time and a huge debt burden.
Chiropractor Is Voted "Most Overrated Career"
"Chiropractor" has been voted Most Overrated Career by U.S. News & World Report magazine for 2007.Click HERE for the full story
According to the magazine: "Some chiropractors think their discipline can cure everything from headaches to sciatica, asthma to premenstrual syndrome. But the Federal Trade Commission only allows chiropractors to claim they can treat low back pain. And even so, research shows that mainstream treatments for lower back pain are equally effective. Many chiropractors also devote considerable time to marketing-in part to pay back the cost of chiropractic school, usually over $100,000."
Chiropractic Links
Links Promoting The Skeptical Discussion Of Chiropractic
Stroke and Chiropractors
In the early morning hours of a cold day in Novemb more...2 points
Chirotalk: The Skeptical Chiropractic Discussion Forum - Home
The #1 Chiropractic Discussion Forum on the intern more...1 point
American Student Loan DEBT Crisis
Includes info about Chiro College Student Loan Deb more...1 point
Chirobase: Your Skeptical Guide to Chiropractic History, Theories, and Practices
A comprehensive site exposing chiropractic quacker more...0 points
The Student Loan Mess: Why Chiropractic Is in Trouble
This article shows why so many chiropractors defau more...0 points
Improper Claims on Chiropractic College Web Sites
This article how chiropractic college lie on their more...0 points
A Warning for Pre-Chiropractic Students
A personal essay on what it's like to be a Doctor more...0 points
http://www.defaulteddocs.dhhs.gov/l
List of doctors who have defaulted on their Health more...0 points
Confessions of a Quackbuster
I confess to being a skeptic who is concerned abou more...0 points
ChiroWatch - All you need to know about chiropractic
CHIROWATCH.COM - We educate the public about the r more...0 points
Skeptical Chiropractic Videos on Youtube
Watch them and create your own
Is Chiropractic Dangerous?
Ask An Injured Patient
Check out this list of websites and organizations started by patients who were injured by chiropractic treatment:
Click HERE to see list
If you become a chiropractor, there is a very real possibility that you will hurt someone. Chiropractors mainly hurt people due to their lack of training in diagnosis (they try to treat critical emergency cases with useless chiro treatments).
But sometimes they stroke people out by doing unnecessary neck manipulations.
Buyer Beware!
How you can help fight Chiropractic Quackery
Together, we can spread the word
#2 -- Post VIDEOS on Youtube.
Until recently, Youtube was totally overrun with chiropractic quackery. This gave a false sense of legitimacy to pseudoscience and put patients and students at risk.
Please continue to post news segments (if you have permission) about injured chiropractic patients, chiropractic student loan defaults, chiropractors getting arrested for fraud advertising, etc.
And if you have video production skills, consider creating a short video. It can even be just a "slideshow" with research, facts, or links to where consumers can go for more information. If you need links to research to back-up what you say, please email me and I will be glad to help.
Your efforts could help prevent someone getting swindled by a chiropractor or even having a stroke from an unnecessary manipulation. Thanks!
Reader Feedback
Here are the latest cheers and jeers from chiroskeptics and chiro true believers.
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- DoctorSJ DoctorSJ Aug 19, 2009 @ 4:15 pm | in reply to thornymax
- The biggest problem with CHIROPRACTIC STROKES is when you weigh the RISKS (deadly) vs. benefits (questionable).
Chiropractic is not proven to be the best treatment for neck pain -- a condition that often self resolves with or without treatment. Safer treatments like massage are also available. Meanwhile, the risks of vertebral artery dissection are real: STROKE, PARALYSIS, DEATH.
Watch the videos on this lens and ask yourself, "IS A HEADACHE WORTH DYING FOR?"
Get neck pain properly diagnosed FIRST before going to a chiro who will tell you predictable sales BS like "Your spine is misaligned" (only chiros can see these "misalignments") or "You are subluxated" (an unproven nonsense diagnosis).
Be careful, folks -- the risk of strokes (however big or small) is simply NOT WORTH IT.
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- thornymax thornymax Aug 7, 2009 @ 1:49 pm
- DoctorSJ, Chiro's do not cause strokes--read the literature. You need someone to remove that not so imaginary stick out of your butt.
[in reply to DoctorSJ]
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- thornymax thornymax Aug 7, 2009 @ 1:44 pm
- Do you read anything except this idiotic blog? I rarely have a day that I do not find an article in a newspaper or magizine, or watch a news program that doesn't expound on the benefits of Chiropractic. Try finding something with a greater than 6th grade reading level. Try to find some of the research by Haldeman about how safe Chiro. adjustments are. BTW chiro's don't crack bones. They manipulate the joints. If you don't like chiros, then don't go to one. Stick with your M.D.--until you can't afford him, anyway.[in reply to ADSOFT]
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- ADSOFT ADSOFT Jul 24, 2009 @ 4:32 am
- .. continued.
For all of you with neck and shoulder pain this how I solved my problem.
First my symptoms.
1. Couldn't hold head up to wait for a light to turn Green.
2. Couldn't stand up at the grocery store long enough to wait for my turn to pay.
3. Couldn't read the news paper.
4. Trouble combing hair, opening front door, standing for extended periods, writing with a pen.
5 Hissing in ears.
Solution:
1. Do the Yes Sir excercises
- Sit square (good posture) or stand and look up at the celling and count to 10.
- Look down and touch your chin to your chest and count to 10.
- repeat 5 times.
- Do this every 2 hours or when in pain.
2. If you have neck pain while driving, Roll a sweater into a roll and place in around your neck like a brace. I had neck pain while driving for 9 months, this solved in two days (after doing the Yes Sir excercises before driving).
4. Get a Mattress w/ good upper body support.
5. Bye-Bye Chiro(s)
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